Deadly shootings, petrol bombing and the eviction of residents from their homes are some of the accusations made by survivors of the riots that took place in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in July.
On Monday, the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) commenced its investigative hearings into the July unrest which saw violent riots and looting in the aftermath of the imprisonment of former president Jacob Zuma.
The commission is planning to hear testimonies in the next three weeks. The witnesses will include victims, political leaders and other role players in a bid to help establish the cause of the violence, the allegations of racial attacks leveled against Indians, causes for the failure of law enforcement as well as assessing the socioeconomic factors that played a role in the unrest.
Witnesses accused Indian business owners and security officers of shooting residents, burning and throwing explosives into homes in response to the looting that had taken place.
The first witness to take the stand Zama Nguse detailed how her 17-year-old nephew Sibahle was shot and later died in Pietermaritzburg as residents were fleeing their informal settlement amid explosions that engulfed the area on July 12 as protests, looting and clashes with security companies and Indian business owners started.
“Security officers threw teargas and everyone could not stay inside the shacks. We were all running to safety as many people had small children there. I went to my sister’s place with the children and closed the doors but then there was an explosion nearby and we got out of the house and fled again. As we were running, he [Sibahle] lost us and I heard from a young man that he had been shot,” Nguse told the hearing.
Nguse, who had been allegedly shot in the back and buttocks with rubber bullets, described how she found Sibahle being held as he appeared to be dying after he had been shot in the chest.
“I have never seen a dying person before but I had that feeling in my heart as I saw him gasping and they took him to hospital and we followed with another car. When I arrived at casualty, I found my sister had collapsed and I was told by the doctors that he [Sibahle] had died at the time of arrival,” she said.
Nguse said she and other relatives were also shot at by the police with rubber bullets as they came back to the informal settlement in the morning as looting was taking place.
She also explained that she had witnessed one of the residents being allegedly shot dead while carrying a two-month-old baby, adding that she knew the person who shot her.
“They shot her dead and when they saw that she was dead, they threw a petrol bomb at her. I know him because he used to employ my father’s children, so I cannot mistake him even with my eyes closed,” she said.
Nguse told the hearing that she wanted those who had been responsible for the alleged racial attacks on residents to be brought to book.
“All I ask for is justice,” she said.
Researchers and KZN premier Sihle Zikalala are among those lined up as witnesses.
The commission is also planning to visit the areas that had been affected by the riots, including Pietermaritzburg and Durban’s Phoenix where black people were killed during the riots.
The hearing continues.
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